Welt lap pressing machine



Sept. 7, 1937. R. H. SEER WELT LAP PRESSING MACHINE Filed Nov. 25, 1956 Patented Sept. 7, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2,092,089 WELT LAP PRESSING MACHINE Richard H. Seer, Danvers, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application November 25, 1936, Serial No. 112,720

6 Claims.

This invention relates to pressing machines for use in the manufacture of shoes and is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a machine for pressing the lapped joint of a welt to reduce the thickness of the joint in order that the shoe edge may be of substantially uniform thickness. Such a joint occurs in certain types of stitchdown shoes wherein the welt is continued entirely around the shoe with its ends in overlapping relation. A machine for pressing such a lapped joint is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,816,963, granted August 4, 1931 upon the application of Andrew Eppler. In that machine the welt lap is supported by an anvil while a hammer operates against the bottom of the shoe to press the lap against the anvil. The hammer of the machine disclosed in the above-mentioned patent is operated by a power-driven mechanism under the control of a clutch through which the machine may be stopped to facilitate the insertion of the work piece. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved machine of the type under consideration wherein the impulse delivered by the hammer upon the welt lap may be varied and wherein a clutch mechanism will be unnecessary. With this purpose in view the machine is provided with a constantly operating mechanism for imparting impulses to the hammer in combination with means for bodily moving the impulse-imparting mechanism from an inoperative position of non-engagement with the hammer into a position of operative engagement with the hammer. In the illustrated machine the hammer is operated through a lever the fulcrum of which may be adjusted to vary the extent of engagement of the lever with the hammer. The fulcrum of the lever, as shown herein, may conveniently comprise an eccentric which may be rotated by a treadle to shift the range of movement of the lever relatively to the hammer and thereby to vary the extent of engagement of the lever with the hammer.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved machine, and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the machine upon a shoe.

The supporting structure of the machine comprises a frame 10 adapted to rest upon the floor and carrying a head I2 in which are mounted the operating instrumentalities. Journaled in suitable bearings in the head [2 is a shaft I 4 which carries a pulley l6 driven through a belt l8 by a pulley 20 secured upon the armature shaft of a motor 22. Secured upon the shaft 14 is an eccentric 24 upon which is mounted an eccentric strap carried by one end of a connecting rod 26. The opposite end of the connecting rod 26 is pivotally connected to an arm 28 of a lever which is fulcrumed on an eccentric 30. Extending from the above-mentioned lever is another arm 32 in which is formed a recess 34. Housed within the recess 34 is a plunger 36 having a convexly rounded head 38 formed upon one of the ends. Surrounding the shank of the plunger 35 is a coil compression spring 40. One end of the spring 40 bears against an inturned flange 42 formed upon a socket 44 which is threaded for purpose of adjustment into the recess 34. The opposite end of the spring 40 bears against a collar 46 formed on the shank of the plunger 36 below the head 38. The collar 46 engages a shoulder formed in the recess 34 which limits the outward movement of the head 38 under the influence of the spring 40. The compression of the spring 40 may be adjusted by turning the socket 44. A non-circular recess 48 is provided in the lower end of the socket 44 to accommodate a turning tool whereby such adjustment may be effected.

Slidably mounted in a guideway formed in an upper portion 59 of the head I2 is ahammer comprising a shank 52'having at one end a head 54. The opposite or free end of the shank 52 is engageable by the convex surface of the plunger head 38. Fixedly secured upon the stationary frame member 50 is an anvil 56 which, as shown in Fig. 2, tapers to enable it to be inserted into the rand crease of a shoe S to support the welt lap. The welt lap, together with that portion of the sole margin which lies beneath it, is thus received between the anvil 56 and the hammer head 54.

The above-mentioned eccentric 30 which constitutes the fulcrum of the lever comprising the arms 28 and 32 is secured upon a shaft 58 which is journaled in suitable bearings in the head 12 and from which extends a pair of arms 60 and 62 respectively. The arm 60 is connected by a rod. 64 to a treadle 66. The arm 62 is connected to one end of a coil tension spring 68 the opposite end of which is anchored in the head l2. Depression of the treadle 66 rotates the shaft 58 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, while the spring 68 tends to rotate the shaft 58 in a counterclockwise direction. A collar 10 adjustably secured upon the rod 64 is engageable with an abutment 12 carried by the head 12 to limit the movement of the shaft 58 under the influence of the spring 68.

In operating the machine the operator holds the shoe S in the position shown in Fig. 2 with the welt lap against the anvil 56. The constantly rotating shaft l 4 operates through the connecting rod 26 to effect a constant oscillation of the lever comprising the arms 28 and 32 about the eccentric 30. As long as the treadle 66 is in its normal or uppermost position under the influence of the spring 68 with the collar 10 against the abutment 12 the plunger head 38 will oscillate over a range of movement sufiiciently removed from the end of the shank 52 to avoid engaging the shank. When the operator depresses the treadle the shaft 58 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, causing the center of the eccentric 30 to be shifted to the right into the position shown in Fig. 2. The range of oscillation of the plunger head 38 will thus be shifted toward the right, enabling the plunger head to come into abutting engagement with the end of the shank 52 with each oscillation and thereby to transmit impulses through the shank 52 and the hammer head 54 against the bottom of the shoe S, thus pressing the welt lap against the anvil 56. Upon completing the operation the operator removes his foot from the treadle and the oscillating plunger is restored toits normal inoperative position by the spring 68. The operator is thus able to start and discontinue the operation of the hammer at will and, furthermore, by pressing more or less on the treadle 66 he can control the effectiveness of the hammer. For example, when he desires only relatively light impulses he depresses the treadle only a short distance, bringing only a portion of the range of oscillation of the plunger head 38 into effective relation to the end of the shank 52. If, on the other hand, he desires to transmit greater impulses to the hammer he depresses the treadle 66 further, up tothe point where the plunger head 38 will be efiective over its entire range of oscillation. The impulses resulting from the oscillation of the lever' will be yieldingly transmitted through the spring 40 to the plunger 35. The spring 40 will thus absorb in large measure the movement of the leverQconverting this movement into varying degrees of pressure. When the treadle 66 is fully depressed, the plunger head 38 will be continuously in contact with the end of the shank 52 of the hammer, and the entire range of oscillation of the plunger will be absorbed by the compression of the spring 40.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for pressing the welt lap of a stitchdown'shoe, comprising a hammer and an anvil constructed and arranged to receive between them the marginal portion of the welted sole of the shoe at the welt lap, a continuously operating mechanism for imparting impulses to said hammer, and means for bodily moving said impulse-imparting mechanism from an inoperative position of non-engagement with said hammer into a position of operative engagement with said hammer.

2. A welt lap pressing machine comprising an anvil for supporting the welt lap of a stitchdown shoe, a hammer engageable with the shoe bottom to press the welt lap against said anvil, a continuously operating mechanism for imparting impulses to said hammer, a movable support for said impulse-imparting mechanism, and treadleoperated means for moving said support to bring said impulse-imparting mechanism from an inoperative position of non-engagement with said mounted, a driving mechanism engageable with the free end of said shank to impart impulses to said hammer, means for continuously oscillating said driving mechanism, and means for adjusting said driving mechanism to vary the location of its range of oscillation from an inoperative position of non-engagement with the free end of said shank to a position wherein the driving mechanism engages the free end of the shank over a desired extent of the range of oscillation of the driving mechanism.

4. A weltlap pressing machine comprising an anvil for supporting the welt lap of a stitchdown shoe, a hammer adapted to engage the shoe bottom to press the welt lap against the anvil, means for supporting said hammer for movement toward and from the shoe bottom, a lever constructed and arranged to enter into abutting engagement with said hammer to impart impulses to said hammer, a fulcrum for said lever constructed and arranged for adjustment toward and from the hammer to vary the extent of engagement of the lever with the hammer, and means for operating said lever to cause impulses to be transmitted to said hammer.

5. A welt lap pressing machine comprising an anvil for supporting the welt lap of a stitchdown shoe, a hammer adapted to engage the shoe bottom to press the welt lap against the anvil, means for supporting said hammer for movement toward and from the shoe bottom, a lever constructed and arranged to enter into abutting engagement with said hammer to impart impulses to said hammer, a rotary member having an eccentric upon which said lever is fulcrumed, operator-controlled means for turning said rotary member to vary the position of the fulcrum of said lever to vvary the extent of engagement of said lever with said hammer, and means for operating said lever to cause impulses to be transmitted to said hammer.

' 6. A weltlap pressing machine comprising an anvil for supporting the welt lap of a stitchdown shoe, a hammer adapted to engage the shoe bottom to press the welt lap against the anvil, means for supporting said hammer for movement toward and from the shoe bottom, a member constructed and arranged to enter into abutting engagement with said hammer to impart impulses to said hammer, a carrier for said impulse-imparting member, a spring interposed between said impulse-imparting member and said carrier to convert movement of said carrier into varying degrees of pressure of said impulse-imparting member, means for oscillating saidcarrier over a predetermined range of movement to cause said impulse-imparting member to operate said hammer, and means for adjusting said carrier to shift its range of movement to vary the extent of theimpulse imparted to said hammer.

RICHARD H. SEER. f 

